Ghost You Know
by a-lil-nothing
Summary: Emily, Naomi, & Katie's run-in in middle school. Could be considered a prequel to A Comet Appears and series 3.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ghost You Know (1/5)

By: a_lil_nothing

Rating: PG w/ some language.

Summary: Emily, Naomi, & Katie in middle school.

Notes: 1) Could be considered a prequel to A Comet Appears. Some of the same characters are here. This takes place before the start of series 3 (when they're in middle school) so in this universe I guess series 3 is the sequel. 2) I've changed my narrative to a sort of first person. Just trying it out. Let me know if it works or doesn't work. 3) Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to everyone that left feedback on my other fics and favorited them. 4) Not beta-ed so please point out mistakes and such so that I may correct them. Thanks!

*

Ghost You Know

*

Naomi POV

It was meant to be the last assignment of the year before our exams and as soon as he mentioned the project would be handled in pairs, I groaned. I really did. Loudly. I even rolled my head back in disdain. Out of the corner of my eye saw one of the twins in the class, Emily Fitch, half smile at my antics. If only she knew how much I hated group projects. With a passion. Due to this fact, I wasn't looking forward to hearing the teacher call out my name and whom I'd be working with. I just hoped if there really was a Jesus Christ that he didn't pair me up with Emily's twin, Katie- a proper witch spelled B-I-T-C-H.

"Naomi and… Emily", the teach read out loud from his notes.

Katie sure was quick to react to my surprising coupling, "What?!" She pounded on her desk her objection. She even stood up for extra effect, I believe. "That's not fair!"

"Katie." Emily whispered to her sister.

I was a bit surprised the shyer twin had said anything at all. Emily hardly spoke in class- she usually let Katie do all the chatting- complaining really. Emily would whisper things to her sister or speak when spoken to; I could count with three fingers the times I'd heard her say anything without being prompted.

Identical twins are an odd concept. Freaky, really. Two people that were meant to be one and for some abnormal act of nature they split into two human beings… with two arms, two legs, brains and all. Yet, Katie and Emily didn't seem identical to me. In looks or personality. I didn't understand how it was I could tell them apart when even the bloody teachers couldn't. I certainly wasn't friends with either, never even had a proper conversation with one or the other, but I knew Emily's face was squarer, her voice huskier, she was- best of all- quieter. Katie, on the other hand, had a heart shaped face with a bollocky-grabbing attitude and a lisp I found funny at times but never laughed at it. Even when I was hung over and the others would giggle at the lisp until Katie gave them her frightening 'go fuck off and die' stare. Truth be told, I didn't mind the lisp. It was more the girl doing the talking that drove me bonkers.

"Miss Fitch, life is not fair." The teacher retorted.

I had to stop myself from chuckling so I just rolled my eyes heavenwards instead. Why was _that_ always the adults reply when a teen cried it wasn't fair? Couldn't they come up with something more original? Like: 'Katie, you're a twat that always makes your twin sister do your homework for you and I'm not letting you get away with it anymore'? He may get a warning from the school board for calling a student a 'twat' but it would be well worth it. In my opinion, of course.

Katie was fuming at this point. "I-".

"You're not going to change my mind by banging on about it. Just because you are twins does not mean you have to do everything together. Now, who's next?" he carried on naming other pairs.

Katie sat down next to her sister again and grumbled, "As if, tosser."

"Leave it, Katie."

"Whatever, Em. You're the one stuck with Margaret fucking Thatcher."

I have to admit I was impressed when I overheard Katie refer to the former Prime Minister. Maybe she had been listening in class after all. I quickly glanced back at the twins not really knowing why. Whilst Katie glared at me, Emily's lips curled up in a bashful smile. I wanted to smile back but I looked down at my notes instead. For some reason Emily's innocent overture unnerved me.

*

As I was stuffing my _World Cultures and Geography_ book in my bag, I heard Emily's voice from behind. "I can ask to be switched with someone else." It was so faint, honestly, that I wasn't sure I'd heard anything at all. I turned around towards my project partner, "Why?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno." Her under the shoulder length brown hair had a few pink streaks in it- like Katie's. I thought Emily wore it better. Don't know why.

With the girl standing in front of me now, face to face-ish; I realized I had never noticed how petite Emily truly was. It was weird. I was gazing down at her- being almost a head taller than the twin- and randomly wondered if Emily would grow anymore. Scientifically speaking weren't we past the growth spurt stage? After all, I'd hit puberty few years ago and look where that got me.

"Look, lets just get an outline done and we'll split up the assignment. All right?" I mentioned, walking past her and towards the classroom door. She smelled of shampoo, cigarettes and some perfume I couldn't quite place. Scented oil perhaps?

"Sure." I heard her reply. But I didn't hear the click, click of her heels following me.

I turned back around- she was exactly where I'd left her. "Well, come on." I even waved at her to come along, like calling over a puppy. "To the library. Where the books are." She started to smile at me again as she just… stood… there. Fucking confusing it was. "Well, then?"

"Are you always this bossy?" she asked me.

Her grin happened to be contagious and I smiled one of my 'I'm trying not to smile' smile of mine as she passed by me and headed out the door… Interesting: who knew Emily Fitch had a backbone? That was a rhetorical question, by the way.

*


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Ghost You Know (2/5)

By: a_lil_nothing

Rating: PG w/ some language.

Summary: Emily, Naomi, & Katie in middle school.

Notes: 1) Could be considered a prequel to A Comet Appears. Some of the same characters are here. This takes place before the start of series 3 (when they're in middle school) so in this universe I guess series 3 is the sequel. 2) I've changed my narrative to a sort of first person. Just trying it out. Let me know if it works or doesn't work. 3) Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to everyone that left feedback on my other fics and favorited them. 4) Not beta-ed so please point out mistakes and such so that I may correct them. Thanks!

*

Ghost You Know

*

Emily POV

People don't naturally have that hair color, right? That angelic blondish white. At least not in England unless Naomi is of Scandinavian descent. This, now that I think about it, could be a possibility due to the fact she is the tallest person in class- boy or girl- and her eyes a bright azure. Except Campbell isn't a very Scandinavian surname, is it? No, I didn't think so.

I was sitting to Naomi's left as she commandeered the distribution of work load. I couldn't stop myself from glancing at her every few minutes… ok, every few seconds, pretending to look at the outline in front of her. If she were to ask me what I was doing I needed to remember to answer 'new social programmes implemented by the government' or something to that effect. Fucking post World War II gobbledygook.

The gazing started with the short hair. And then her long eyelashes. Her straight nose. That little chickenpox mark above the nostril made me want to ask her about it since Katie and I had chicken pox when we were seven. I noticed she had a beauty mark on her cheek and wondered why she covered it up. I was positive it would look quite attractive. Truthfully, anything would look great on that face.

As I clandestinely studied her slightly parted lips I realized it wasn't that the girl was always sneering- her upper lip had a bit of a natural curl to it that just made it look like so. Fucking alluring that was. To top it off she smelled of sweet oranges. Perhaps because that had been her snack once we'd gathered the reference books and sat down. Apparently, she didn't care the library had a no food policy and had even silently offered me a wedge. Best orange I'd ever had in my life.

I sighed without being too obvious about it. See, I'd been… enamoured… with Naomi Campbell since the very first moment I saw her and our eyes connected for that fraction of a second. I didn't know what to think the moment my back got hot and my body forgot how to breathe. At first I thought Katie had finally poisoned me but then understood what it truly was: I'd been struck by cupid's arrow. I'm not shitting you- it was a direct hit. Now here we were a year later and finally having a bit of conversation. Ok, the conversation was lacking but I honestly couldn't think of anything witty to say. It was driving me mad.

I looked at the half finished outline again and foolishly said the first thing to pop in my head, "Your handwriting is awful. Anyone ever tell you that?"

Naomi's head whipped a bit too close to mine. I hadn't realized I'd leaned over so near. "Is it?" she wondered as she looked down at my notebook. Thank baby Jesus I wasn't doodling hearts and stars around the margins like I normally did - that would have been proper embarrassing. "Well, yours is… It's… bubbly." She said it like that, like it was infected and gross or something.

"Yeah?" My handwriting is bubbly. Who cares? "So?"

"It's girly."

"I am a girl."

"Yes, you are."

I didn't get her logic… "So are you."

"Your point?" She'd asked it in that queensy accent of hers, not Bristolian at all. It was so cute. Naomi's voice was something I could write a 5 page essay about. All her different tones: angry, disillusioned, surprised, confused, loud, quiet… She could use them all in one hour if we were having a class discussion.

"You write like a boy." I elucidated.

For the first time ever Naomi looked mystified. She surprisingly shrugged me off quietly and went back to her writing. I, on the other hand, mentally slapped myself over and over again.

A few minutes later she finished the outline and she spoke. "I think we're about done here." She handed me another piece of paper with my assignment. "Here's your part. Think you can have it by tomorrow? I'd like to get it done before the weekend."

I wondered why but I was still embarrassed by my attempt at conversation. Keep it simple, Ems. You can tell her 'yes, it's only five paragraphs'. However, "Sure," was what I said instead.

Naomi gathered her belongings and turned to me one last time before leaving. "Ok, then… See you, Emily."

I realized that was the first time she'd ever said my name. Her vice was so soft, like a whisper, and my heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. Crushes totally sucked shit.

*

"I need your help with this fucking project. You know I'm rubbish at history." Katie said as she fixed the chemise she was wearing. It was that tiger stripped one that made her look like a whore. Or, maybe it was her makeup. Or, a combination of the two.

"You're rubbish at it because you don't do your own homework." I answered back as I sat on my bed writing my assignment. I was pleased I'd at least gotten one paragraph completed- having spent at least ten minutes staring at Naomi's drunken monkey handwriting with too many 'Naomi is so bloody gorgeous' thoughts running though my head.

Katie was now over by the mirror painting her lips again, "I've got a date with Mike tonight, yeah, and that bitch Michelle wants me to write my part by tomorrow. It's not even fucking due 'til Monday."

"It's a school night. You can't go out." I said like the lame loser I was.

Katie looked at me thinking the same thing. "Yeah? So? I'm telling mum I'm off to work on the assignment. If you ever got yourself a boyfriend you'd know school nights don't matter." Her demeanor changed in a flash, she was about to say something to me in her sweet, sisterly tone to sucker me in, "Please, Em."

I was an idiot. "Fine." I sighed. "What's your subject?"

"I don't know." She was gathering her purse, getting ready to leave.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Fucks sake, Em." She glared at me, "I. Don't. Know. Michelle wrote something down on my notebook. Look it up there." She opened the door to our room and exited. "See you!"

Grumbling, I crawled out of my bed and over to hers. After rummaging through her bag full of make up, pills, and even a bottle of vodka I found the binder she used in history class. I read the topic and rolled my eyes. What the hell did I know about the Clean Air Act of 1956?

*


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Ghost You Know (3/5)

By: a_lil_nothing

Rating: PG w/ some language.

Summary: Emily, Naomi, & Katie in middle school.

Notes: 1) Could be considered a prequel to A Comet Appears. Some of the same characters are here. This takes place before the start of series 3 (when they're in middle school) so in this universe I guess series 3 is the sequel. 2) I've changed my narrative to a sort of first person. Just trying it out. Let me know if it works or doesn't work. 3) Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to everyone that left feedback on my other fics and favorited them. 4) Not beta-ed so please point out mistakes and such so that I may correct them. Thanks!

*

Ghost You Know

*

Naomi POV

I have to admit it was a bit unsettling to be sitting with Emily again the next day. This made it two times in two days. We'd met up after class to combine our notes for the essay and since I was the faster typist (blogging works wonders on the computer skillz but apparently kills the penmanship) it was my job to take her bubbly, girly handwritten notes and thread them with mine. I was quite astounded to find Emily's writing style was similar to my own. Our words and sentences flowed together rather nicely.

Being with Emily was an interesting experience. She was unnervingly quiet at times but something about her was peaceful. Her brown eyes were always friendly and her smile was soothing. She had this look to her like she was thinking all the time, about everything and anything. I wondered what sometimes. I obviously wasn't too good at conversations. I loved to debate issues not talk about the weather (unless it dealt with global warming). Maybe if I ended up becoming some sort of friend with her after this I would get used to actually being friendly with someone instead of antagonistic with everyone. 'Let people in' like my cow of a mum would say. Lucy and Amy didn't count since, after all, they let me down more often than not.

"Where you from?" Emily asked me without preamble.

"What?"

"Your accent. You're not from Bristol."

"Yeah." I thought it was relatively clear I wasn't.

"And…" she waited for my response.

"I'm from London."

"London?" her brows crinkled in curiosity, "Why you here then?"

I couldn't read the notes, type and carry on a conversation at the same time. "What is this? An interview?" To be honest, it came out a little more briskly than I expected. The look on her stunned face made me feel like rat dung instantly.

"No, I- Sorry." She turned back to her notebook, drawing something that looked like a… garden design? What the…

"Mum got a job at University." I explained, feeling awful I'd been so rude. "That's why we're here."

"What she do?" Emily hadn't looked at me to ask the question. I guess she wasn't that mad at me for being a prick. Or, she intrinsically knew I sucked at talk-fests. One of the two. Or, both?

"She's a…" I sighed, "Social anthropologist." Emily looked at me again, it was like crickets were chirping in her brain. "She studies social behaviour." I could tell she was baffled by mum's occupation. People usually were. "She studies people and their ridiculous lives."

"Oh!" she beamed, "Sounds interesting."

"No, not really." There was my bitchy tone again. I inwardly groaned- I definitely sucked at chin-wagging. Emily obviously wanted to talk to me; she was open and willing to listen to me. But, it made me prickly for some reason. Dunno why. "Can we get back to this, please? I need to go soon. I'm meeting up with some friends later."

"Oh, sorry. Yeah." She went back to her drawing.

*

She'd spent 5 minutes beetling around drawing that garden of hers with her different colored pencils and markers whilst I continued to type our paper. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed once she'd finished the drawing she switched over to one of our reference books and began to furiously write on a binder. Now, I wasn't sure, but it looked like Katie's binder. The one she used in history class.

"There. We're done." I finished spell checking the document and commanded the computer it to print a copy. The printer was loud, one of those old dot matrix ones mum still used. "Do you want to read it?"

"Me?" she looked up from her writing.

"Yes. It's half yours."

"I trust you." And with that straightforward reply she carried on.

Curiosity got the best of me. I leaned over, "What you doing?" Her face said it all. "Is that-" I knew it! She was doing Katie's part! I stole the binder from her and held it above my head. I knew she wouldn't come after it.

"Get off. Give it back."

"Why? This isn't right, Emily."

"She's rubbish at everything. Please don't tell on her." Emily's face illustrated the conflicting emotions so well. She was an open book. Maybe that was the issue. She was wide open and I was closed off. "She's my sister, all right?"

I didn't really understand what that meant but I retuned Katie's binder to her. "Whatever." I grabbed the printed report and gathered my things. "See you around, Emily."

I didn't know why I felt so disappointed as I walked out of the library.

*


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Ghost You Know (4/5)

By: a_lil_nothing

Rating: PG w/ some language.

Summary: Emily, Naomi, & Katie in middle school.

Notes: 1) Could be considered a prequel to A Comet Appears. Some of the same characters are here. This takes place before the start of series 3 (when they're in middle school) so in this universe I guess series 3 is the sequel. 2) I've changed my narrative to a sort of first person. Just trying it out. Let me know if it works or doesn't work. 3) Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to everyone that left feedback on my other fics and favorited them. 4) Not beta-ed so please point out mistakes and such so that I may correct them. Thanks!

*

Ghost You Know

*

Emily POV

I noticed her arrival earlier in the evening. How could I not? She was the only bright blond hair in a sea of black, brown and even purple heads. It was Saturday night- Michelle's party. Didn't know the girl very well but the invitation included me when she invited Katie. Maybe it was a twin thing. Like people didn't understand that we were actually two different persons. Definitely not into the same things. The only thing we did have in common was getting wasted. At least we had that.

I was on my second cup of vodka now. There were these two girls with Naomi loud, laughing, joking about whilst Naomi stood with her back against the wall, a drink in one hand and a ciggy in the other. She looked amazingly cool just standing there. But she also looked… like she'd rather be somewhere else. It was still cool though: the way she leaned back on the wall, the way she dragged on her cigarette, the way she exhaled the smoke. Naomi's eyes wandered to mine and she smiled a quick smile. One of those blink and you miss it smiles of hers that infuriated me. Why not just smile outright? There's no harm in acting pleased once in a while, is there?

I carried on my conversation with some guy from our history class all the while sneaking glances her way. I think it was pretty obvious I wasn't paying him any mind the third time I looked away.

"What is it, Emily? Who you looking at?" he asked a bit slurred and gazed across the room. I froze. I had to make something up fast. Or not. "Oh! There's Charley! CHARLEY!" he practically yelled in my ear as he waved a friend over. "Come over here, you tosser! Look! One of the twins!"

I figured that was my cue to escape. I drank the rest of my vodka and unconsciously looked over to the corner of the room again. Honestly, it wasn't a conscious move on my part. I actually wanted to find Katie and strangle her for shoving me off at another wanker but my eyes wandered to where the blonde was instead. A little bit of panic set in when I saw Naomi walking away from her friends and towards the back door. I wanted to talk to her about what happened at the library. She'd looked so disappointed in me and I felt the need to explain.

"Naomi!" I called out trying to get her attention over the loud music and guests. The alcohol was finally starting to kick in and it became a mission to walk around everyone and catch up with her without falling flat on my face.

"Emily. Hi. What you doing here?"

I was momentarily confused by the question. "Katie dragged me along. Michelle is her partner. Assignment partner. For history." I tried again. "Her assignment partner in history class." There, that made more sense now.

Naomi smiled. A real one. It made me giddy, ridiculously so. "You drunk?"

"A bit." I couldn't stop smiling. Her grin lit up her whole face. She needed to smile more often, like, every second of the day. 24/7. "You?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

"Stoned?"

Her eyes twinkled. Yes, they really did. "A bit."

"Are you leaving?"

"What? No. I'm here with my friends Lucy and Amy." She pointed across the room to those two girls she'd been with earlier.

"Then why are you heading out the door?" I inwardly cursed. I really was turning into a stalker, wasn't I? I couldn't help it. I was so drawn to her it was absurd.

"I need some air. And a smoke if I'm going to survive a few more hours of this dump." She tugged on her lower lip with her fingers like she tended to do sometimes. It was right sexy.

"Mind if I come with you? I could use a smoke, too."

She looked at me sideways and smiled again, "It's not cigarettes."

"I didn't think so." I couldn't stop myself from grinning like a loony bin detainee.

She nonchalantly tugged on my sleeve and made my skin tingle underneath the fabric. "Come on, then, Emily."

As I followed her out, I decided then and there I loved how Naomi said my name.

*

"I don't even know what I'm doing here." She mentioned after lighting the spliff and drawing it in. She offered me the joint after her second toke.

I wasn't sure if she was talking about smoking outside with me or… Our fingers lightly brushed against each others as I took the offered drug. I unbelievably lost my train of thought for a second there. Her fingers were soft, cold but soft. "At the party?" I asked, taking a drag of the spliff, "Or in the grander scheme of things?" I handed it back to her as I exhaled.

What she did next was positively shocking and made me wonder if she wasn't a bit wasted already. Miss 'I don't find anything amusing' actually… fucking… giggled. Really. It was one of those adorable stifled laughs you want to hear over and over again for the rest of your life. "At the party, silly." She replied as she took another hit. "We have to be up early tomorrow."

I wanted to ask who 'we' were but I didn't. "Why?" And why the holy hell did Death Cab for Cuties' version of 'Earth Angel' suddenly have to start playing? One of Katie's boyfriends had been obsessed with Stubbs the Zombie gameplay and had downloaded the soundtrack for her. He thought the ripping of arms and eating human brains was funny. That should have been Katie's first warning that he was a bit mental. Although, I had to admit, the dance off segment of the game between the copper and Stubbs was pretty fucking hilarious. Especially when high. And drunk. And MDMA'd out of your skin.

Naomi's voice brought me back to the topic at hand. "A group of us are heading to the wharf at sunrise."

"Ew. Why?"

"Protesting the trawlers." My face must have showed I thought she was insane. "We need to ban trawling. They kill a lot of innocent animals with those nets." She said it like it was so obvious.

I watched her smoke again. And by watching her smoke, yes, I mean watch how her chest expanded as she inhaled. Either she had a stuffed bra or she'd developed more than just her height already. "Like Greenpeace?" I moved my eyes up quickly, "Not the trawling part, the protesting part."

"Yeah, like Greenpeace." Naomi smiled softly and looked over at me for second. She offered me the joint again.

Jesus H. Christ! Did she just glance at my lips? I felt a blush rising, my breath coming in rapidly. I had to be very careful as I inhaled the drug- didn't want to start a coughing fit, choke and die. Not yet at least… And this fucking song!

Naomi leaned back on her hands, "So…"

"Yeah…" I smoked the joint again to pass the time, "What are you doing this summer?"

"Not sure. Maybe go on some dig with my mum. Her mates are working on some digs in Turkey. Greece. I may go with her." The way she swung her trainers back and forth was so adorable.

Having never been outside England I thought that sounded like fun. I wondered why a social anthropologist would go on a dig though. Wasn't that what proper anthropologists were for? "What if you don't?" I asked as I gave her back her spliff.

"Probably head to London." She paused, as if she were about to divulge too much personal information or something. That, or the joint was kicking her hard. I know I was feeling it all over. "Visit my dad. What about you?

"I dunno." I really didn't. I hadn't actually thought that far ahead yet.

"What's Katie doing?

"I don't know either…" I frowned at her. "It's not like we do everything together."

"Really?"

"God, no. I can't stand to- I mean…" I knew Naomi was teasing me for the very first time when she nudged my shoulder with her own.

The music inside had since changed to The Feeling's new album and we just sat there in comfortable silence. Sweet silence until Katie yelled "Emiiiiily?! Fucks sake, Emilyyyyyyyy?!" like a banshee as she walked out of the row house.

"Over here." I called out to her, wishing I hadn't.

"What the fuck you doing? Party's inside." She asked, looking at the ground as she walked over to the side of the house. High heels and a backyard were not good friends for a reason. "Oh. Naomi." She said once she came up to us. "Hi." She added as well though I knew she didn't mean it.

"Katie." Was all Naomi said by way of a greeting. She then proceeded to offer my sister the spliff.

Katie looked at me for a second and then back to her. "Right." She took the joint and brought it to her mouth. "Party's inside, yes?", she said in between inhalations. "Get a move on. Boys aren't going to wait forever." She smoked it one last time and handed it back to the blonde. "Move yer arse, Em. Come on." And with that she turned and began to walk away. A part of me hoped one of her heels would get stuck in the soft ground and twist her ankle. That would have been both payback and entertaining

"Fucking cow." Naomi grumbled looking at the spliff. "It's spent. Didn't even bother to say thank you." She chucked the remainder to the side and stood up- although a bit unsteady. I chuckled- Naomi Campbell Greenpeace member littered the Earth? I looked up to tease her but I was shocked mute when I registered she was holding her hand out to me. That friendly gesture ceased my brain from working properly. Therefore, I was surprised to see my arm extend over to hers of its own accord. Maybe brains were overrated. "Come on, Ems. Can't keep the boys waiting." She winked and helped lift me up.

I died a little bit at that very moment.

*


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Ghost You Know (5/5)

By: a_lil_nothing

Rating: PG w/ some language.

Summary: Emily, Naomi, & Katie in middle school.

Notes: 1) Could be considered a prequel to A Comet Appears. Some of the same characters are here. This takes place before the start of series 3 (when they're in middle school) so in this universe I guess series 3 is the sequel. 2) I've changed my narrative to a sort of first person. Just trying it out. Let me know if it works or doesn't work. 3) Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to everyone that left feedback on my other fics and favorited them. This fic included. 4) Not beta-ed so please point out mistakes and such so that I may correct them.

Since you all know how this will end- like mentioning the ship sank when talking about the Titanic- I've toyed with the thought about making this a 'choose your own adventure' where this could be one of two endings where the reader has the power to decide where the story goes. I guess it'll be up to your feedback. But, happy thoughts!!! because we know how series 3 ended so, yay!

*

Ghost You Know

*

Naomi's POV

Katie had grabbed Emily and absconded with her once we came back to the party. As for me, Lucy came up from behind and hugged me tight. Not a very smart idea since we were both shitfaced and almost lost our balance. I wanted to yell at her- the girl knew I hated it when she did things like that but she never cared. Personal space was personal for a reason, I always told her. Just because she was sloshed didn't mean the rules were no longer applicable. Scolding her wouldn't have mattered anyway and so I let her drag me off to dance a few.

Lucy and Amy had been the first people I'd met in Bristol (during a political rally of course) and we became fast friends. We had a lot in common besides the drugs and protesting but the two of them were best friends already and I sometimes felt like a kangaroo's tail around them. Good thing I was comfortable ignoring people around me. Although, not Emily for some reason. I'd wanted to pretend like I hadn't heard her call out to me earlier but it just felt wrong somehow- even after our 'disagreement' in the library. I couldn't help but think how nice those few minutes with her outside had been, like we were becoming friends. It was nice, just talking. I could tell from her expression she felt the same way.

After dancing, I gazed around the room for her and looked on as Emily talked to a boy I'm pretty sure Katie had thrust her way. He seemed one of those action men that all they did was talk sports. Not her type- not that I knew what her type was, mind you. Just not him, I guess. I saw Emily chug her drink and smile a phony smile at him. I had to stop myself from chuckling seeing I was right.

Amy had given me another cup of booze and it was getting to me. The drugs too… The rotten music… The idiot in front of me talking way too closely. I was pretty sure I was almost backed up all the way to the wall unit trying to step away from him. "Look, eh…" The fact he'd told me his name two minutes ago did not matter. My memory was not working properly at the moment. Amy's marijuana was that excellent.

"Josh." He answered.

"Right, Josh." I looked over at where Emily had been but saw she was now heading towards the kitchen. I downed the alcopop in one gulp, burning my throat as it progressed to my stomach. "I'm going to get another drink. Excuse me."

By the time I got to Emily she was pouring vodka into her cup. A lot of it. She raised the red plastic cup to me in salute and grinned before taking a long swallow. How she was not entirely off her face was beyond me. I would not want to play a drinking game with that girl. Definitely not.

After finishing the liquid off, her brown eyes connected with me again. I just gaped at her wondering if any minute now the realization of what she'd just done would sink in. But, no, she simply poured herself another one for herself and one for me. She handed me my drink and we looked at each other in silence. Just as we were about to chug it down together we began to laugh. It took a few seconds to let the giggles out and gain our composure.

She smiled again, crossed the invisible barrier of my personal territory, and that's when Emily Fitch grabbed the back of my neck with her free hand to pull my head close. Real close. Our lips connecting close. I didn't realize what was happening until I felt my body move forward, my feet almost tripping over themselves, alcohol spilling on my clothes. My upper body was towering over her, probably due to the fact I was taller and Emily's deft hands continued to bring my body impossibly close to hers. She was one strong, tiny girl I fuzzily thought. Or, I was too pissed to stand properly.

Her lips tasted like chapstick and cigarettes and vodka. They were thinner than most boys I'd kissed- not that there were that many to compare her to- and tasted much sweeter. I'd seen Lucy and Amy randomly kiss each other a few times when they were off their gourds and it was always a laugh afterwards. I didn't have a large spectrum of knowledge on friendly things and figured this was what most girls got up to most of the time when blokes weren't around.

One must have entered the kitchen because I heard a: "Brill! Katie! Check it! Your sister is a lezza!" yelled out by a masculine voice.

That should have woken me up from the Emily fog I was in but it didn't. Katie entered the kitchen and yelled obscenities my way as she violently yanked me away from her twin. It made our lips pop. I was completely dazed, dizzy, and held on to the counter Katie had pushed me into. She looked about ready to murder me. It was only the person holding Katie back that stopped her from doing so. "What-" I didn't know what the fuck to say.

As she looked over at her sister, I kept my eye on Emily and saw it play on her face. The confusion. The horror. Emily touched her lips and then gazed straight at me, her eyes watering up. I knew instantly she was frightened of Katie- of her reaction, of what she would do. I dumbly watched as she pleaded with her twin. "It was nothing, Katie. Let's just go." I was feeling beyond nauseous now and ready to puke- the alcohol, the drugs, the out of the ordinary situation I found myself in.

"Nothing?!" Katie screamed in the corridor. I could vaguely make out what they were saying. "Her muff diving hands were all over you. Not to mention lips. You don't know where those have been. Fucking hell. Drink some alcohol to kill the microbes or something."

My hands had been all over her? How'd they get there? I didn't remember doing that.

"She's just done in. She didn't mean it." I'm pretty sure my features scrunched up at that moment. I wanted to correct her. After all, Emily had been the one to grab my neck, the one to pull me close, the one to kiss me. "It's fine, Katie." Emily implored.

But it wasn't fine. Emily was… lying. She was blaming everything on me. What a deceitful little slag. At least Katie was up front about it. I knew she was scared but… I shook my head in disbelief. Bad idea. That just made me dizzier.

I precariously pushed myself off the counter and headed out the kitchen. "Excuse me." I said, passing the twins in the corridor horribly sick to my stomach. I needed the loo and fast. "Have a nice summer, Emily," I said as casually as possible, not bothering to look at her. If I never saw her ever again, either of them really, it'd be fine by me.

Emily's POV

The way she said it, half between a mumble and a disappointed sigh, devastated me. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! As soon as Naomi was out of view I looked over at Katie- still mouthing off- and clocked her one good. I knew I'd never win this fight but did it anyway. It'd been a long time coming.

*

Fin


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